State Pension 2025 could see £921 a month for half a million people
Millions of individuals over the State Pension age are set to see a 4.1 per cent increase in their weekly payments next April, courtesy of the Triple Lock. The New and Basic State Pensions are adjusted annually under the Triple Lock, aligning with the highest figure among average annual earnings growth from May to July (4.1%), Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate for the year ending in September (1.7%), or 2.5 per cent.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released figures on Wednesday that finalised the Triple Lock for the 2025/26 uprating. These figures revealed a drop in the CPI for September from 2.2 per cent to 1.7 per cent, while the average earnings growth for the 12 months leading up to July was 4.1% – making it the determining factor.
The new State Pension rates will be officially confirmed at the Autumn Budget on October 30, but the Labour Government has committed to uphold the Triple Lock for the forthcoming five years. However, not all State Pensioners are due to receive the annual uplift next year. Nearly half a million pensioners who have chosen to retire abroad will miss out on increased payments.
Under the earnings growth component of the Triple Lock (4.1%), those on the full New State Pension will see their payments rise by £9.10 per week, from £221.20 to £230.30. As payments are typically made every four weeks, this amounts to an increase of £921.20. This will result in annual payments rising by £473.60, from £11,502 to £11,975.60 over the 2025/26 financial year.
Those on the full Basic State Pension will see their weekly payments increase by £6.95, from £169.50 to £176.45, equating to an additional £705.80 every four weeks. Over the 2025/26 financial year, annual payments will go up by £361.40, from £8,814 to £9,175.40.
The International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP) is campaigning for the rights of approximately 453,000 expatriates affected by ‘frozen pensions’ through its ‘End Frozen Pensions’ campaign, which seeks to “end the injustice” faced by British citizens who have moved overseas and do not benefit from the Triple Lock increase each April.
Many retirees now residing in countries without a reciprocal agreement with the UK, such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, find their State Pension remains static at the rate it was when they left the UK. This occurs despite having spent the majority of their working lives in the UK and contributing to National Insurance, which would normally qualify them for State Pension payments had they remained.
To claim the State Pension, you need a minimum of 10 years’ worth of National Insurance Contributions, and around 35 years to receive the full amount. However, this can vary if you have been ‘contracted out’. However, the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners’ analysis suggests that all these frozen State Pensions could be updated to current State Pension pay rates by the new Labour Government for a sum of £50 million.
Their study reveals that State Pension payments to frozen countries only makeup 1.3 per cent of the UK Government’s total annual expenditure. A World War Two veteran, soon to turn 100, is now rallying public support for her request for a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss ‘frozen pensions’.
Anne Puckridge, who retired in Canada later in life, has pledged to undertake the 435-mile journey just before her 100th birthday in December, to challenge Sir Keir Starmer to a meeting about the scandal which sees half of the affected pensioners receiving a UK State Pension of merely £65 per week or less.
Anne is encouraging people to sign a new online petition initiated by her daughter. Having served in all three branches of the armed services as a WW2 veteran, Anne, now in her 100th year, is spearheading the fight for nearly half a million British pensioners living abroad who are denied the yearly increases to the UK State Pension.
Despite having worked her entire life in the UK and made all her National Insurance Contributions, Anne receives only £72.50 per week, less than half the £169.50 she would receive if she resided in the UK. This is identical to the amount she was entitled to in 2001 when at the age of 76, she relocated to Canada to be nearer to her daughter.
Like many others in her predicament, she wasn’t informed that her State Pension would be ‘frozen’ in this manner upon moving overseas. John Duguid, Chair of the End Frozen Pensions campaign, commented: “Every single one of us forgotten British overseas pensioners impacted by this cruel, outdated policy are immensely indebted to Anne for shedding light on this poorly understood scandal.”
“That she is prepared to travel halfway across the world, aged nearly 100, to fight for others is testament to her relentless drive and profound sense that it should not be this way. While she should not have to make this journey, it is my sincere hope that the Prime Minister will grant her this one small wish. Out of courtesy for her wartime service, her lifelong dedication to Britain, and the suffering she has unnecessarily endured.”
Over 100,000 British pensioners reside solely in Canada. This week, Anne is presenting her official request to converse directly with the Prime Minister when she visits London in December.